- New COVID-19 guidelines for
Wisconsin schools were released
this week for teachers,
students and parents.
DPI Senior Policy Adviser
Jennifer Kammerud provided
testimony this week to the
Assembly Committee on
Education.
Jennifer Kammerud joined us
earlier this week.
And thanks very much for doing
so.
- Thank you.
- So your reopening plan is
called "Education Forward,"
and it includes the things that
we might expect, like
distancing, masks
and symptom monitoring.
I know it's up to each
district, but for
a grade school, for example,
how difficult is this
going to be to implement?
- Well, it's really going to
depend on the conversation
that the local school district
has with their local health
authority and with their
parents in terms of
how they're going to operate
the school day.
So for some school
districts, it might not look
that different.
You might be in school five
days a week, just washing hands
more, making sure you're doing
your coughing and sneezing
etiquette and distancing
students some more.
You might be altering how you
drop off students.
And I think probably one of the
big differences might be in in
terms of bussing.
How you're you're getting
students to school just to
try to create a
transportation situation that
is as safe as possible.
- And yet at other districts,
it might be more stringent -
you're suggesting with the
masks and the symptom
monitoring and that kind of
thing?
- Absolutely.
Again, it's going to depend on
the local health situation
and the conversations with the
local health authority.
And again, what the comfort
level and decision making is at
the school district level to
provide that environment that
is as safe as possible.
So some districts
will have different
procedures in place.
They might have required masks.
They might have-- because
of social distancing
requirements they've decided
on, they might have A and B
schedules or cohorts of
students moving through a
school.
They might do a four day work
week with a fifth day off
for cleaning.
Those are just all
different examples.
But really, at the end of the
day, it's up to the school
district to determine.
- And the plan calls for
some mix of virtual
learning as well?
- We were wanting to be really
up front with school districts
about the need to
plan for virtual education.
There may be situations where
because of the decisions you're
making, only part of the
student body can be in the
school at a particular time.
There may be situations where
the school is closed
again under the order
of a local health authority or
the state health authority or
the district itself.
And there will be students who
will be unable to return to
school no matter what the
situation because of concerns
with their own health,
underlying health conditions.
And so districts really do need
to have a plan in place in
terms of how they're going to
deliver learning in those
different environments.
- And so in terms of people not
being able to return to
schools in person, that
holds for teachers as well,
is that correct?
If they are not comfortable or
are unable
under, you know, physician's
orders to return?
- Yeah, there may be-- yes,
there will be staff who
will have underlying health
conditions and concerns.
And we're encouraging those
staff to talk with their school
districts about what
modifications can
be made or and how to approach
that situation.
- What has been the reaction
from districts across the
state to this plan?
- Well, overall, there is a lot
in this plan and
we have heard a lot of
positives in terms of the
comprehensive nature of it.
The things to think about.
Very little in this plan is
required.
It's provided as
a conversation starter, jumping
off point, things to think
about.
There were questions about some
of the learning scenarios,
and we have made it clear that
moving-- that these are all
decisions they will need to
make. And again,
there is no minimum class size.
There is no required way of
doing it. Every district has
its own unique situation
that they'll need to consider.
So really, the things that
they were looking for were
ideas on how to handle
transportation, cafeteria
food distribution,
how to potentially social
distance in the school
environment, how to attend
to the needs of special
education students, English
learners and gifted and
talented students.
- So what has been the reaction
from parents?
- So parents, I think, looked
at look at the document
differently. This is a, again,
a complex document.
And so a lot of them were, I
think, taking away a lot
of different things.
We got a lot of questions here
at DPI about minimum class
sizes and does my school
have to do one of these
learning modules,
learning scenarios.
And we've been we've been
letting them know that, no,
that's is really a conversation
you should have with your local
school district.
- All right, we leave it there.
Jennifer Kammerud.
Thanks very much.
- Thank you.